Centrifugal flow self-lubricating journal box and bearing



J. H. HELMS ug. l2, 1952 CENTRIFUGAL FLOW SELF-LUBRICATING JOURNAL BOXAND BEARING Filed May 28, 1948 Y the ports and direct the Patented Aug.12, A1952 CENTRIFUGAL FLOW SELF-LUBRICATING j JOURNAL BOX AND BEARING yv John H. Helms, Fortville, Ind. Application May 2s, 194s, serial No.29,774

This invention relates to a centrifugal ilcw self-lubricating journalbox and bearing, and has for one of its objects the production of asimple and eiicient means for automatically distributing oil through thebearings within a journal box and thereby provide ecient lubrication atvarious climate temperatures, as well as at various speeds whether highor low.

Another object of this invention is the production of an eicient journalbox and bearing lubricating means, which is so constructed as to avoidfrequent repairs.

Other objects and advantages of this inven-I tion will appear throughoutthe following specification and claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the journal box andbearings;

yFigure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Figure 1.

By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that I9 designates thecasing of the journal box throughwhich the journal II of the axle I2extends, as shown in Figure 1. The conventional entrance I3 for a dustguard is providedv at the inner end of the casing I 0. A journal brassbearing I4 rests upon the journal II and is provided with alongitudinally extending oil groove I5 in its under face abutting uponthe journal I I. This groove I5 is closed at its ends, as shown inFigure 1. Aconventional journal box wedge i6 rests upon the bearing I4and is oval upon its top, as shown to insure proper bearing on thejournal. The wedge I6 is held against longitudinal movement in onedirection by a lug I'I at one end of the bearing I4, and againstmovement in the opposite direction by a lug I8 carried by the casing I0.The wedge IE is provided with a lubrication port I9 in which is fitted ahollow rubber gasket 2U defining a rubber encased port whichcommunicates with the port 2l formed in the bearing I4 and leading tothe groove I5. The gasket may be of any suitable type to properly sealoil to the groove I5 while the journal and surrounding parts are underconstant movement or vibration.

The casing I0 is provided with a transversely extending oil reservoir 22located above the ports I9 and 2 I. A passageway 23 leads from thereservoir 22 to the hollow gasket 20 and port 2i to feed oil to thechannel I5. A removable cover plate 24 closes the top of the reservoir22 and a plurality of oil feed ports 25 lead to the res- 1 claim. (of.30s-s6) ervoir from the oil ledges 26 'of' the centrifugal oildelivering chamber 21. `The chamber 2l is formed within the enlargedsubstantially circular housing 28 formed at theforward end of the casingI0, as shown in Figure l. Thishousing 28 and chamber 21 extend below thebottom of the casing I0, thereby defining an oil pit 29 into which theoil drains after passing over Ythe bearing I0 from the reservoir 22,ports 23, 20 andl. Thel reservoir 22 is preferably providedk with afilter cloth 30 and a ilterscreenplate3l upon which the cloth rests tofilter the' oil before the oil passes through the port 2l to the grooveI5 and journal II. '1

The journal II is providedxwith lan'end flange 32 to which is secured anoilf'distributingkdisc 33. Oil pick-up rings 34V and` 3,5.madeofplywood, sponge, felt, rubber,hor.1similar material, are secured toopposite sides ,ofvthel disc 33 and are slightly spaced. therefrom bysuitable spring washers 3S. The disc 33 is secured to the flange 32 bymeans of cap screws 31',`which screws are tied together by tie-wire 38.The disc 33 and rings 34 and 35extend down into the oil within the oilpit 29, as shownwinFig'jre V1,;.1120 Dici:v up the oil as the disc 33'rotates with the journal Il The housing 28 is provided with an `accessopening 39 which is normallyclos'ed by a cover plate 46 and sealed by asuitable gasket 4I;

The ledges 26 are located upon 'opposite sides of the housing 28 'at thetop thereofjwithin the widened compartment 42. Thisy 'compartment 42 islocated above the disc33 andchamberEl. The. ledges 26 are adapted to`receive the oil from the disc 33 and rings 34`and 35, as the disc 33rotates, and the oil which is picked up from the oil pit 29 is thrownupon one of the ledges 26 by centrifugal force as the disc 33 rotates.The oil will be thrown upon the opposite edge 26 when the discY 33rotates in the opposite direction. The oil will drain through the ports25 from the ledges 26 into the'reservoir 22 where it is filtered andthen fed to the bearing as above described.

As shown in Figure 3, an oil oat 43 is mounted within the reservoir 22and actuates a conventional oil gage 44 mounted upon the cover plate 24.An oil lling plug 45 is carried by the plate 24 to facilitate reiillingof the reservoir 22 by suitable means, if desired. The oil pit 29 isalso provided with a removable drain plug 46.

A graduated wear gage staff 41 extends vertically through the centralaxis of the housing 28 and its lower end carries a foot disc 48. 'Thisdisc normally fits in the recess 49 in the top of the compartment 42 andnormally is heldin this position by means of a cotter pin 50 shown inFigure 1. An adjusting nut I is threaded upon the upper end of the staff4T. A removable housing 52 iits over the stair to shield the same. Thewear on the journal brass I4 may be measured by removing the cotter pin50 and pushing the staff 41 downwardly until the foot disk 48 strikesthe top of the boss SIe. The stai or plunger 41 is then raised and thecotter pin or key 50 is replaced. After considerable wear has resultedon the journal brass bearing I4, the cotter pin 50 again is removed andthe wear on the journal bearing may be measured on the wear gage byconsulting the position of the nut 5I relative to the graduated stair41.

It should be noted that the disc 33 rotates with the journal Il, eitherin a forward or backward direction. As this rotation takes place, thedisc 33 and the rings supported thereby, pick up the oil from the oilpit 29 and throw the oil upon one of the ledges 26 by centrifugal force,as indicated in Figure 1. The oil is then passed to the reservoir andthen to the journal as above described. The warm oil then returns to thepit 29 where the oil again is picked up by the disc 33 and cooled as thedisc rotates. This procedure continues and thereby completely lubricatesthe journal. The disc 33 handles the oil so rapidly that the reservoiris continually full. When the journal I I discontinues rotation, thebrass bearing I4 acts as a valve to keep the oil from flowing unless thejournal is in rotation. The gasket 28 seals the top part of the port inthe brass bearing I4 and also the under face of the top wall of thejournal casing or box I8 adjacent the port 23 against which rests thewedge I 6 to avoid leakage. Consequently, when the journal I I beginsrotation the reservoir is always full.

It should be noted that the bearing I4 is lined with Babbitt metal(about inch thick) where it contacts the journal I l. This isconventional. When this Babbitt metal is worn from the bearing, it maybe relined, thereby increasing the life of the bearing. The housing 28is much larger than the distributor to allow for shuttle motion when thetrain carrying the bearing hits high and low spots on the tracks. Bymeans of this device, the necessity of repacking the journal box isavoided and because of the constant lubrication of the journal by cleancool oil, the parts will not run hot. This device avoids waste grabs andavoids the journal being cut from waste grabs. It also avoids thenecessity of waste adjustments and stant journal inspection andreplacement of Waste.

A line screen 53 is placed over the inner end eliminates the necessityof con-v of each breather passage 54, and an oval or other shield plate55 of any suitable type, preferably partly closes the lower opening ofeach passage 54, as shown in Figure 3. The breather or air passages keepthe journal box cool regardless of which way the vehicle may be moving.

It of course would fall within the scope of the present invention toplace the wear gage in any desired position to measure the wear bycontact with the journal I I if desired, rather than in the positionshown. This may be done without departing from the spirit of theinvention. It should be understood that other detail changes of locationof parts may be necessary to accommodatevarious types of journal box towhich the device may be applied.

Having described the invention, as new is:

A device of the class described comprising a journal casing, a journalrotatably mounted therein, a disc carried by the journal, said casinghaving an oil pit for receiving oil from the journal, said discprojecting into the pit for elevating oil by centrifugal force therefromas the journal rotates, said disc having relatively narrow oil pick-uprings formed of relatively soft material slightly spaced laterally fromsaid disc and secured to opposite sides of the disc near the peripheryof the disc to pick up a maximum amount of oil as the disc rotatesthrough the oil pit, oil receiving means carried within the casing toreceive oil thrown from the disc by centrifugal force as the discrotates, and means for feeding oil from the oil receiving means to thejournal.

what is claimed JOHN- H. HELMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 158,169 Hall Dec. 29, 1874503,074 Conway Aug. 8, 1893 612,653 Witkowski Oct. 18, 1898 889,999Wilcox June 9, 1908 1,375,376 Fynn Apr. 19, 1921 1,439,321 Page Dec. 19,1922 1,905,281 Grandjean Apr. 25, 1933 2,264,908 Blackmore Dec. 2, 19412,498,520 Blackmore Feb. 21, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS.

Number Country t Date 15,009 Great Britain 1906 21,085 Great Britain1908

